Football Tips: Our 24/1 Bet Builder for Czech Republic v England U21s

Our tipster Andrew Beasley's backing England to kick off their Euros campaign in style.

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Czech Republic v England Bet Builder Tips

England (-1)
Over 2.5 Goals
Cameron Archer to Score Anytime
Under 9.5 Corners
Over 4.5 Cards

A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 24/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP

Euro Under-21 Championships 2023: Czech Republic v England
Adjarabet Arena, Batumi – Georgia
Thursday, June 22: 5pm

TV: UEFA.tv

England get their quest for a first title in the European Under-21 Championship since 1984 underway with a match against Czech Republic. Lee Carsley’s side are second favourites to lift the trophy and this is arguably their most important fixture in the group stage, at least according to the seedings.

The top two sides in the group qualify for the knockout phase, with these nations ranked second and third. Germany – England’s third opponent – were top seeds and Israel were in Pot 4, so the winner of this match stands a very good chance of advancing. But who’s it going to be?

England (-1)

England are the match favourites and the reasoning for that stretches beyond the UEFA rankings. Czech Republic were also in their group for the qualifying phase, with the young Lions winning home and away.

Head-to-head records don’t tend to mean a lot at this level because there is obviously a fairly swift turnover of players, but in this case only four of the England players who started either meeting aren’t in Carsley’s squad. The men responsible for four of the five goals will be present and correct too.

England have also been near flawless in competitive matches over the last two years. They won eight of their 10 matches in qualification, with the only loss occurring after their passage to the finals in Georgia and Romania had already been secured.

While the Czechs won seven of eight against teams other than England in qualifying, they are winless in their last five matches. Everything points towards a win for the English here, and they should be capable of a victory by at least a two-goal margin to cover the England (-1) handicap. They won 3-1 against Czech Republic in November 2021 and were two goals up until the 87th minute in the return meeting last June.

Over 2.5 Goals

If England U21 have a main Achilles heel it’s that they rarely keep a clean sheet against anybody half decent. While they did record five shut outs in qualifying, they came against Albania (36th in the recent UEFA coefficient rankings), Kosovo (37th) and Andorra (49).

Preventing Italy and France from scoring earlier this season inspired defensive confidence but conceding twice to both Croatia and Japan in their final two warm-up friendlies will have dented it. Ultimately, expect goals here. Over 2.5 Goals has paid out in 12 of Carsley’s 16 matches in charge, and eight of his 10 competitive games.

Cameron Archer to Score Anytime

England’s top scorer in qualifying was Folarin Balogun, who has since defected to the United States. Behind him, Cameron Archer and Anthony Gordon bagged four goals apiece. While the latter has been playing at a higher level, the former has been in better scoring form.

He spent the second half of this season on loan with Middlesbrough and scored eight times in his last 11 starts. Archer also bagged his four Under-21 goals in a three-game spell last summer so he must like the warm weather. Cameron Archer looks a good choice to Score Anytime here.

Under 9.5 Corners

The golden rule with betting on international football is to assume that there won’t be many corners, and Carsley’s England U21s adhere firmly to that belief. Only five of his 14 matches at the helm have reached double figures for corners. Granted, one which did was their previous meeting with the Czechs, but only one of their last eight games has paid out on over 9.5 corners, so take the Under 9.5 Corners bet here.

Over 4.5 Cards

Carsley’s side are carved in the image of their manager. They’re not all bald, just to clarify, but they’re certainly unafraid to play a physical game like he was in his heyday. England’s two qualifying matches against Czech Republic saw four and five bookings respectively, while only two of their last 12 matches for which data is available saw fewer than three.

The referee should contribute to the carnage too. Horatiu Fesnic has averaged 4.6 cards per game across his entire career and 4.3 in his four matches at under-21 international level. With him in charge of a fiery England side, Over 4.5 Cards looks to be a good value play.

Czech Republic v England U21 Betting Tips

England (-1)
Over 2.5 Goals
Cameron Archer to Score Anytime
Under 9.5 Corners
Over 4.5 Cards

A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 24/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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